NHL weekend rankings: It’s not too early to imagine a dream first playoff round

We’re just hitting the two-thirds mark of the regular season. The Olympic break is days away, the trade deadline is still over a month away, and a million things can change between now and April.

Is it too early to start thinking about the playoffs?

Probably. But like a little kid noticing the Christmas decorations starting to go up in November, it’s OK to start looking ahead just a bit. And that feels especially true right now, when a peek at the standings hints at a first round that could be especially intriguing.

Most years, I end up writing a full column sometime in March on the best potential matchups that realistically in play. That’s still the plan this year, unless I forget, which is always a solid possibility. But this week, let’s fire off a preemptive strike, with a look at five of the best first-round matchups that we could be headed towards.

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